[A320FAN]

Originally Posted by jcmichniak@yahoo.com

May 12 I booked 4 seats via CheapoAir form Rhinelander, Wi to Tampa, FL, with 2 connections (Milwaukee & Atlanta) via Frontier and Airtran Airlines. There was a "baggage alert" on the itinerary. The link did not provide any other information that would alert me to the problems that ensued.
May 13, I spoke with Emily at Frontier to arrange seat assignments. She made the seat assignments and advised me that there was no agreement between Frontier and AirTran for transferring baggage. I thought, no problem, we'll just bring carry-ons instead.
I then called Air Trans to make seat assignments and was advised that there was not going to be enough time to connect between flights. Now that's a problem and potential illegal connection.
I called CheapOair. The customer service person, Thomas, insisted that they had an agreement with AirTran and that there was plenty of time but he would have his "associate" called me later. His associate, Ricky, turned out to be another customer service person who reiterated Thomas' claim. He offered to have a supervisor contact me.
Monroe called me that evening. He said the problem was that, because AirTran had no agreement with Frontier, it would necessitate re-checking in at AirTran in Milwaukee and the time allowed for the connection was not enough. Bingo. Someone screwed up scheduling. In fact, when searching for flights, all the flights with AirTran were now posted at $20,000+ to discourage any further bookings of these illegal connections.
But what infuriated me was that 1) Frontier would refund one-half of our $1,377.80 2) AirTran would only issue a credit 3) we would be imposed a $25 per person fee for cancelling.
In fact, the airlines and CheapoAir should be paying me for alerting them to this error in scheduling. All the other search sites still had these illegal connections posted! I booked in good faith, that they would only post legal connections. I should not be paying ANYTHING. CheapOAir and the Airlines should me made accountable for their error. My only mistake was choosing to give them my business!

Cheapoair.com is a 3rd party booking agent. Many airlines offer tickets through these sites to increase revenue. Air Tran (which is in the process of being merged into Southwest slowly but surely) USED to have a marketing and iterline agreement with Frontier. However after Frontier's trip through the US Bankruptcy courts and subsequent buyout by Republic Airline Holdings severed that agreement with in the last year. Cheapoair is just providing the combination of flights available to you. The baggage notice is to let you know that 1 or both airlines may have a fee for checked luggage. Now what you may have been able to do is call each airline seperately and ask which terminals in MKE and ATL do they operate from. If it turns out that they both operate from the same terminal then there may have been a chance that once you board flight A and land in point B, and switch airlines you would have been through security already and could have proven it with a boarding pass stub, and then checked in at point B with airline 2 and arrived in your final destination.

When you were searching through Cheapoair.com, did you look at all the flights that were available to you. I know that sites like Continental.com (United/Continental Airlines) will publish a connecting time between their own flights) and Orbitz will publish the connecting times if more then 1 airline is involved. I do look at Orbitz from time to time to see other options for passengers who may mis connect in Point B to get home or to were ever they are trying to get, but when I get ready to travel I book directly with 1 airline for the whole itinerary. This way the 1 airline is responsible for getting me to my final destination.

By the way here in the notice about the end of the Frontier and Air Tran agreement:

Frontier Airlines Ends Partnership with AirTran Airways




Frequent Flyer Partnership to End July 16, 2010

DENVER, May 17, 2010 - Frontier Airlines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: RJET), today announced it will end its frequent-flyer partnership with AirTran Airways, effective July 16, 2010. The partnership, which was established November 2006, allowed frequent flyer members of both airlines to earn and use their miles on both carriers.
Frontier Airlines is in the process of integrating the Midwest Miles program into its EarlyReturns® program. The two programs are expected to be combined by fall 2010. For more information on EarlyReturns, please visit FrontierAirlines.com/earlyreturns.
About Frontier Airlines
Frontier Airlines is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc., an airline holding company that owns Chautauqua Airlines, Lynx Aviation, Midwest Airlines, Republic Airlines and Shuttle America. Currently in its 16th year of operations, Frontier employs more than 5,500 aviation professionals and operates more than 550 daily flights from its hubs at Denver International Airport and Milwaukee’s General Mitchell International Airport. Frontier offers routes to more than 70 destinations in the United States, Mexico and Costa Rica.
On April 13, 2010, Republic Airways announced that its two branded carriers, Frontier and Midwest, would combine under the Frontier Airlines name. The integration of these two airlines is expected to take 12-18 months. Track our progress at FrontierMidwest.com.
For more in-depth information on Frontier Airlines and to book tickets, please visit its Web site at FrontierAirlines.com.